Headfirst, Steadfast
by Vindicated Irony
Summary: A young mutant girl thrown headfirst into a life she didn't want. Powers she thought made her a freak. But maybe, just maybe she's finally found her place. Contains OC
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men, only Aphra.**

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When one Aphra Greer was born she was a chubby, healthy baby. It wasn't long before wisps of chocolate locks appeared to go along with odd raspberry colored eyes, something doctors contributed to a mutation of the pigments in her eyes. She was almost sixteen when she woke, her dark hair littered with primrose pink and wisteria purple streaks, her parents thought she was hitting her rebellious streak.

Aphra didn't know _what_ to think.

Though, Aphra soon found that these odd streaks couldn't be died over or washed out. In fact, they brought upon something else entirely. She was in a store when a man pulled a gun. In her fear she willed him not to see her, and he didn't. The man walked straight past her when he was ordering the other patrons about. Frightened and confused, Aphra brought up a hand to wipe away a stray tear and froze. Invisible. She was _invisible_.

_She was a freak. _

Too much of a coward to do anything, she had waited till the cops came, snuck out the open doors and into an alley down the street. Holding a quivering but invisible hand in front of her face and willed it to appear, and it did. Shaking and sick to her stomach, she ran home in a full out sprint and ended up breathless in her bedroom. Her parents would have her committed if she ever even suggested such a thing happening. For two years she kept to herself, didn't tell a single soul and dealt with her developing abilities by herself.

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Aphra hugged her friend, tears streaming down both of their faces. Graduation, high school graduation was already separating her and her best friend, Kellie. Kellie was headed to Harvard, law and politics were her true passions in life. Aphra on the other hand was still searching for opportunities, ever so indecisive. She decided to take a break and look for a small apartment.

It was on one of those apartment hunting days that Aphra decided to take a break in the local park and grabbed an ice cream. Steps started sounding behind her, light, but still resonating loudly in her sensitive ears. A glance at a broken piece of glass leaning against a garbage can showed two men, one quite serious, and the other with a bounce in his step. They were following her, she realized, her heartbeat growing faster. Her ice cream dropped to the ground and she sprinted around a small section of trees and sunk back into them, willing herself to disappear.

Aphra had to hold back a sigh of relief once their now quick steps brought them around the corner and they looked around, confused. That was, she was relieved before the voice spoke to her.

'_There is no fear to be had, Aphra dear,'_ It echoed in her mind, it was male, she realized, _'We are here to help, not to harm.'_

'_Who are you?'_ She snapped back at the voice in her head, _'How are you in my head.'_

'_Me? I'm a friend. I'm in your head because I'm like you,'_ the voice soothed, _'I'm special, different.'_

'_Like me?'_

'_Yes, a mutant, you could call us.'_

'_But why are you after a freak like me?'_

'_Because we need your help, and we want to help you too, with your powers. And you, my dear, are by no means a freak! You are amazing, special!'_

'_Help..?' _She chose to ignore the last needed her help? They could help her?

'_We are gathering a group of our kind to stop a bad man. And we would like it if – '_

'_Yes.'_ It came before she could stop it. He had subconsciously let slip a little about the man, Sebastian Shaw, and she didn't like it.

'_What?'_ He seemed surprised, the nicer looking of the men still standing off to the side. It seemed he had also vocalized the word as the taller, sterner man had shot him an odd look.

"Yes, I'll go with you," She vocalized this time, stepping away from the trees and making herself visible again, "I'll help you."

"Delightful! I'm Charles Xavier," the kind looking man shook her hand happily, "this is my friend, Erik Leshnerr , and it's nice to meet you Miss Greer."

It felt right; she realized as she followed the two men, she felt like she wasn't alone anymore. Though she may have been relieved of that lonely feeling; Aphra still felt odd, not normal. Maybe it was like Charles had said, she was special, amazing. She dismissed the thought with a shake of her head, it didn't matter, she had a goal now, and she knew what she wanted to do. Aphra wanted to help.

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**So yeah, new story because I have writer's block on all of my others. I love X-Men, and First Class was great, I loved it. Seriously, I've watched it like ten times. Haha. Anyways, any critiques or opinions/advice is much appreciated if you have any!**

**VindicatedIrony**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the long wait, and the shortness! D: Ironically I actually have part of chapter four written already... but none of three, haha. Oh well! Anyways, I also updated my story The Chronicles of Shinobi Life, a bit of an apology. Hope you enjoy! And thanks to everyone who reviewed, alerted, etc! :) It's also a bit short, sorry about that! D:  
**

**I only own Aphra.**

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If there was one thing Aphra was sure of at the current moment, it was that the building in front of her was intimidating, and that at this moment she really wanted to bolt for it instead of meeting these other mutants. Meeting new people was _scary_. It had been a somewhat awkward ride on the way to the base, Charles attempted conversation but Erik mostly stayed quiet and Aphra was still much too nervous and scared.

"Nothing to worry about, dear," Charles chirped from her right, a kind look on his face, "I'm absolutely positive they'll love you."

'_Glad __**you**__ think so,'_ Aphra grumped nervously to herself as she picked at her sleeves, before she realized he'd heard and snapped at him vocally, "and stay out of my head!"

"He is a bit nosey, isn't he?" Erik supplied, cutting off what Charles was about to say.

"Alright, alright, well, here we are," Charles pushed open the doors to a rather large room, "Hello everyone! I'd like you to meet our newest friend, Aphra."

"Ah, hello," A light blush coated her cheeks, "nice to meet you all…"

"Oh, hello! I'm Raven!" The pretty blonde hustled over and put her hand on Aphra's shoulder, a kind smile on her face, "Come on over and sit down!"

"We'll leave you all to it then," Charles left with a wave and Erik followed with a nod of the head, apparently they had to meet with Agent MacTaggert. Well, that was what Aphra heard them say anyways.

"Introduction time! Aphra this is Angel," the small dark haired girl nodded, "Hank," the shy man with glasses waved weakly with a half-smile, "Darwin," the African American man nodded back with a smile and a 'Yo,' "Alex," The blond nodded and his lips quirked a bit.

"And I am the only important one here," The red haired boy gave a cheesy bow as he interrupted Raven who just rolled her eyes, "The name is Cassidy, Sean Cassidy."

"It's nice to meet you all," Aphra's voice was normal now and her smile came a bit easier, they seemed very nice. _'If not a bit eccentric,'_ she mentally noted with a glance to Sean. Aphra's ears twitched and she glanced over at Raven, who looked like she was ready to burst.

"Now that we're all here," she clapped her hands together and flopped back onto the couch, "we can show off!" A sudden realization perked her up even more, "Ohh, and we can get code names! I call Mystique!"

"Aw, damn, I wanted to be called Mystique!" Sean snapped his fingers and fell back in a pout.

"I called it, besides," a wave of blue overtook Raven and another Sean appeared in her place, "I am way more mysterious than you."

It went on like that for a while, and Aphra was impressed by all of them. Aphra started to wonder why she was there; they seemed much more useful than she was. "Aphie! What about you?" Aphra's head shot up when Raven called to her, her eyes wide in surprise. She had butterflies in the pit of her stomach; actually, it was more like sparrows, or maybe parakeets.

"Cheshire, I'll be called Cheshire." It came out before she could stop it and a light blush tinted her cheeks.

"From Alice in Wonderland, why?" It was Darwin that had asked.

"Uhm, well," she stood up and stepped away from her seat, "now you see me," she wavered out like heat waves until she was completely un-seeable, "and now you don't." The reaction was almost unanimous and it startled Aphra into visibility. They all clapped and Raven gushed about how awesome it would be to turn invisible and Apha twitched slightly, going red and managed to get out a response, "That's not all."

They all stopped and looked at her curiously, and Raven in excitement. "What else, Aphie?" The blonde was practically bouncing where she sat.

"My… reflexes and senses are all enhanced," Hank perked up a bit more at that, "My speed, balance, and flexibility too. Oh, and I heal faster than normal as well. Only just a bit though."

"Th-that's amazing, Aphra!" Hank was aflutter with excitement, "You think I could take a look at your DNA? I'm interested to see what I can find."

"You've got an interesting way of asking girls out, Bigfoot," Alex smirked from his chair, effectively causing Hank to both redden and shut up and Aphra to smack him from where she stood.

"Well, you know what they say about big feet," Raven gave Alex's feet a critical onceover and looked away, "and yours are kinda small."

Everyone snickered and Darwin calmed them, "Alright, alright, so, what can you do, Alex?" And that, my friends, was when things went downhill.


End file.
